Exactly. 5pts behind Chelsea with a game in hand.Dramatic much?
8 games into the season. People are talking about where we are on the table. Literally not far away from the action.
You think was 8 games left in the season and we were trying to leapfrog them teams the way you made your entrance
I've already stated that I've been flip flopping for ages, way before the Everton game. Much as I love Ole and very much appreciate the squad he's put together I have long been unconvinced at his ability to get the best out of the players. We've seen some great performances, some lovely football but we've also repeatedly seen how easily we can be nullified. How incapable we have been at breaking teams down, this has been happening so often and with no visible remedy or improvement.
No, I don't think I kneejerk as such. I've been flip flopping, teetering on one side then the other. Mainly because I've been willing Ole to succeed and there's been times where I've thought things had clicked but then, next match, back to square one.
Bollocks!! 8, 18, or 28 games ....it doesn’t matter anymore. This club is in decline and everyone knows it.Dramatic much?
8 games into the season. People are talking about where we are on the table. Literally not far away from the action.
You think was 8 games left in the season and we were trying to leapfrog them teams the way you made your entrance
That's fair enough. Lets see where we are by year end. These are our league fixtures up to then:
No drama, just fact
The fans who travel to away games would rather fall off a cliff with a manager than ever show any signs of disrespect.
Nothing would please me more than being in a decent position come the year end. I have no personal desire for Ole to lose his job, my principles are really simple, like amoeba simple ... I want to enjoy watching our football on a more regular basis, win, lose or draw. For as long as Ole is our manager I will support him but I can't deny I've reached a point where a change might be good. Might not be though. Nobody is ultimately right in this discussion.
You’re back in fantasy land I see? I clearly said as soon as he incredibly survived December that we may as well now give him the January window to see where he goes from there.
100% agree with this, the games above are all challenging fixtures but also winnable if we are able to play well. We should know by the end of the year where we stand and if things don't go well we bring someone in during the January window I guess. I imagine we will take around 12 points from the 21 available, will that be enough for Ole to survive?
Amen to that
Nope, that got Mourinho the sack and will be the second year in a row for Ole with such a horrific start.
I'd expect to take slightly more than that really when you take into account the quality of our squad but more importantly, surely it depends on the manner with which we take those 12 points? Scraping through, just winning with sleepy and uninspiring performances will only drag out this conversation and won't help Ole's cause. Get them 12 points playing some good, confident and committed football and it becomes a more appealing 12 points.
I just dont believe that its been bad enough for anyone who said that he deserves another season to go full circle again. I dont see it, but thats me.
Seriously, no one is against Ole because he smiles.
But in one sentence this explains one of my concerns. Why, when we have a quality squad, does it take for the pressure on Ole's job to get so great they have to pull a massive performance out for him? Why can't that be replicated more often? We've all seen how well these players can play so why can't Ole get them playing that way more often?
He doesn't realise Jose leapfrogging us on the table after only 6 months in charge is an embarrassment for Ole. Same guy talking about how the table after 6 games doesn't matter. Talk about a lack of self awareness
You may be disappointed with that. We have 7 league games, 3 CL games and one League cup game in the next 5 and a half weeks. Its going to be a grind. Players are going to be fatigued. I think every team in Europe are going to find this period difficult to navigate. Ill take points however we can get them
It's not only your concern. I cannot understand how we struggle to be more consistent. He can play one team on the weekend and win 4-0 and the same team the week after and we would lose or draw, the problem with this team is you know that a bad result is round the corner.
That was my point. Read the page for god's sake. The original post isn't even that far up
You're going to find alot of hypocrites once a different manager takes over from Ole and is underperforming
Ultimately so will I. But at some point dude, Ole is going to have to show us that he can elevate this group of players and form some kind of momentum and consistency regardless of schedules. Win well or win ugly, there's a time for both. We have an expensive squad and as I've said before, I like it and I see no reason this squad shouldn't be slugging away with the top teams.
I'd go further than that even. Some people on here don't even seem to like football itself and should maybe follow another sport. Anything that incurs so much anger can't be healthy.
Cannot just judge him on the basis of Espanyol and Spurs (who reached the CL finals just FYI)
The team is complacent. It needs something to motivate them or a point to prove. Not just Ole's job under pressure but we've seen it during games too. We don't wake up till we concede or after the half time break probably after the hairdryer treatment from Ole. It's really frustrating but alot of our players have a weak mentality and I don't think Ole is the right character for them as he is just as passive or reactionary.
I agree, and im sure that we will produce some good football in that period, but consistently? I think its unrealistic to expect that.
Not sure you're right about that. He certainly isn't a charismatic media figure. He doesn't communicate well. He sticks to basically no message during interviews. He comes across as dour and contentless. And these things matter much more in England than they do in Norway, where being dour is generally seen as a sign of competence and seriousness.
He's paying for that now, among other things because he hasn't really explained where he's heading and why he's been doing things the way he has. It'd be much easier to like and support him if he showed more thoughtfulness and verve in his comments, and more visible energy in the technical area. Ultimately though, that's just public perception and it's not central to the job he's doing. And there are upsides to that way of handling the media too: He consistently deflects attention and blame away from his players and his squads, either by taking the blame himself or by just not really saying much, content-wise. I think that's probably really important, since this is a squad that faces extremely high expectations, and is simultaneously the youngest squad fielded by any team in the top 6 european leagues last season. In effect, he's turning the meeting of expectations into a collective responsibility. That's smart. Especially after 2 1/2 years of the Jose Mourinho show in every post-game interview. That is Ole's job. To prepare them mentally for each game as if it were a battle. That is what I don't see and why I'm spending less and less time blaming the players. Most of our squad, our starting 11 certainly, are damned good players.
One glance at our coaching staff on the bench and it's easy to see why we play without urgency at least half of the time
The consistency I talk of isn't necessarily expecting world class performances each match. I'm old enough to know better. But I want consistency in attitude. Never say die. Not sloppy and aimless performances, even if everything we try doesn't come off. Does that make sense? I don't expect us to win or steamroller every team we play but I expect us to leave it all on the pitch.
Of course, we've seen it countless times before over the years. It's how you handle it that counts. Win, lose or draw, it's the manner in which it happens that concerns me. I don't mind losing if we've given everything and tried everything during that 90 minutes. I'm not a fan of aimless and half arsed though.
Very nuanced balanced posts Volumiza. Cheers.
I agree about the complacency. In many respects we have brought this upon ourselves by handing out contracts and extensions that are far better than on the pitch performance merits, making it attractive for the poorest performers to stay at the club for as long as possible.
The "reset/reboot" was just PR spin from the club as pressure was mounting on them to make wholesale changes.
This is our issue...no actual system, no ethos for how we play. Just 'go out and express yourself and we'll see what happens', which worked under Fergie, with top class, highly intelligent players and coaching.
